


Hypersonic Boom

by Masterweaver



Category: Sonic Boom (Cartoon)
Genre: Canon Continuation, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-01
Updated: 2019-08-01
Packaged: 2020-07-25 18:07:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20030092
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Masterweaver/pseuds/Masterweaver
Summary: Sonic lounged against the doorframe, rolling his eyes. "Why do you even read fanfiction, Amy?""It's an expression of the same drive to create that fuels most literary and artistic works which generally remains unbound by the restrictions of budget and corporate oversight, thereby allowing the writers to explore possibilities that could not be found in the source material." Amy grinned over at Sonic. "There's adventure stories, you know.""Sure. There's also poor technical writing, badly designed original characters, random and nonsensical crossovers, and don't get me started on the shipping.""You have something against a good romance?""A good romance? No." Sonic pushed himself off the doorframe. "But a lot of this is 'OMG, love interest, I hath fallen for thee, and my personality is forever altered for the sake of fluffy kisses!' Blech."Amy rose her finger, thought for a moment, then conceded the point with a shrug. "Yeah, okay, there's some ridiculous stuff. But there's also really good stuff. You just have to dig for it... like archeology!""Whatever, Ames. You keep digging. I'm headed off to have this week's adventure."





	Hypersonic Boom

The Bygone Islands weren't the most well-known place in the world, but those who had heard of them believed them to be a hotspot of adventures and stranger stories. The civilization of the Ancients had left behind multiple cities, with their powerful artifacts just begging to be discovered. The local villages seemed at the first built to a simple existence, but threaded through were odd bits of technology both modern and advanced. Upstart miscreants of many stripes would often try to connive, scheme, and assail innocents out of their well-earned belongings. And, of course, there was the recently arrived industrial genius, bent on evil conquest and building armies of robots, stopped constantly by a supernaturally speedy blue hedgehog and his team of friends.

Said blue hedgehog was currently lounging on the couch in one of his friend's homes, watching the television with an expression of confusion.

"...what _happened_ to this show? I thought it got canceled or something."

"Oh it was," said the two-tailed fox. "But then some guy wrote a script for a theoretical new season."

"What, and the producers put it back up just like that?"

"No, actually, this is a fan production entirely."

"Well, that explains the shoddy special effects." The hedgehog gestured at the screen. "I mean, look at that glowing crystal--it's obviously backlit."

"Honestly, I'm just watching to see where this new writer is going to take it. I've seen some of his other works, he's not too shabby, but I don't know if he really grasps the source material here."

"Eh, if it turns out terrible we'll just heckle him in an online forum or something."

A pink figure suddenly slammed the front door open. "Sonic! Tails! You two need to get out here now!"

The hedgehog jumped to his feet. "What is it, Amy?! Is Eggman attacking again?!"

"Worse! We have an unexpected guest!"

* * *

Usually, the atmosphere on the beach was either relaxed or adventurous, depending on whether or not there were arthropod-derived machines assailing the occupants. Even when things got tough, the place was usually pretty lively. A quick fight, be it with words or fists or both, usually alleviated any tension in the air.

A quick fight might have been preferable to the uncomfortable standoff that was happening now.

"You know, I never thought I'd find you guys in a place like this." The newcomer smirked as she rested a hand on her hip. "Don't get me wrong, great vacation getaway, but I'd have thought you'd be looking for a more... I don't know, active scenery. Looping roads, grind rails... at least a lot of flashing lights or something."

Sonic crossed his arms with a shrug. "Plenty here to enjoy, if you know where to look."

"Have to be, to keep _you_ interested." She looked him over. "You've stopped shaving your arms, I see. Like it, like it, it goes with your 'windswept disheveled cutie' look well. What's with the scarf, though?"

Tails cleared his throat. "So... what have you been up to?"

"Oh you know, traveling the world, looking for rare treasures--"

"Why are you here, Rouge?"

The newcomer sighed, shifting her hips as she turned to Amy. "What's with the hostility? It's been a few years, I thought I'd drop in and--"

Amy tightened the grip on her hammer. "I'm not buying it. You've always got an angle."

"Hey, hey!" Tails stepped between them. "Let's not make a big scene of this. Maybe we should give her another chance?"

"I'm renting a duplex down in the village," Rouge explained. "I thought I'd give you all a heads up."

"And why are you renting a place down there?!" Amy demanded.

"Officially, my government-mandated vacation begins next week." Rouge drew her wings in tightly, glancing away. "Unofficially... the International Reconiscance, Intelligence, and Strategic Organization decided they needed an agent here just last month, and I thought it would be best if it was somebody you knew."

Sonic pinched his brow with a pained groan. "The big guys are getting involved? That's just perfect."

"Yeah, well, with what you've been getting up to somebody was bound to notice eventually." Rouge crossed her arms. "I'll do my best to keep them off your backs, but it's going to be a bit of give and take--"

"Hey guys, I brought burgers!"

Four sets of eyes turned to the newcomer, who was carrying a small bundle of paper sacks.

"I figured we could eat them while we figured out what we wanted to do today," the hulking red figure explained. "A good snack is always--oh my gosh! Rouge?!"

"Hey there, Knuckles!" Rouge put on a warm smile and gave him a cheerful wave. "You've been working out, I see."

"Oh, yeah." The red hulk flexed an arm. "Gotta keep my strength up. Leader of team Knuckles, you know."

Rouge glanced at Sonic, who rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"...Okay..."

"Hey, it's great to see you again!" Knuckles handed the sacks to Tails. "How long has it been? It feels like years!"

"It _has_ been years."

"Really? Wow. Usually when I say that it turns out to have only been a week or two."

Rouge's smile grew a little glassy, but she rallied herself. "Oh, I know that feeling. Time sure flies, huh?"

"It does?" Knuckles gave her a confused look. "But you fly... and so does Tails. Then again, Tails has some really wacky futuristic technology. Maybe he's a time traveler!"

"Maybe!" Rouge agreed brightly, clutching her hands together as her wings drew in tightly.

"I'm not a time traveler," Tails deadpanned.

Knuckles hummed suspiciously. "I dunno... That's exactly what a time traveler _would_ say."

"Ugh..." Tails rolled his eyes, picking up the sacks. "How about we take these burgers into the house?"

"Sounds good." The red figure followed him into the house. "Hey, are burgers any better in the future?"

Rouge's hands unclenched as the door shut behind them. "So... he's still like that, huh?"

"He's a lot better these days," Amy informed her in a dangerously calm tone. "He speaks with coherent sentences, his thoughts are at least tangentially related to what's going on, and if he's not overwhelmed he can stay focused."

"Sounds like he's improved a lot."

"Yeah, I stuck around and got to watch it happen." Every word from the pink hedgehog's mouth dripped with vitriol. "Because I'm his _friend."_

Sonic sighed. "Amy--"

"No, I..." Rouge's smile fell away. "I deserved that."

"Oh, I think we can agree on _that_ much," Amy spat.

Sonic stepped between the two, holding up his hands. "Look, Ames, I'm not happy about this either. But she's here now, and she's not going to go away any time soon." He glanced over his shoulder. "You're not, are you?"

"Not unless I get reassigned. And I'll give you a warning if that happens."

"So we're going to have to deal with her, okay?"

Amy looked from him, to the bat, to him again, and finally sighed. "Fine. Whatever. I guess I can live with this indignity."

"Do you mean that literally?" Rouge quipped with a smirk. "Because I'm not officially supposed to be here until next week, so I need a place to crash where nobody local can find me."

"Somewhere off the grid, huh?" Amy mused with a tiny grin. "I think I might know juuuuuust the place."

* * *

Sticks rolled her eyes as she heard the rapid knocking on her front door. She got up, opened it--

"Hi Sticks! This is Rouge! She's a government agent and needs a place to live for a week! Keep an eye on her!"

\--and barely had time to blink before Amy shoved a bat in a skintight suit into her burrow and slammed it shut.

The two of them stared at each other for a moment.

"So..." Rouge smiled awkwardly. "Rustic place you got here, huh?"

"I don't trust technology." Sticks narrowed her eyes. "I'm sure you know why."

"...because Eggman attacks the island a lot?"

"DON'T PLAY DUMB WITH ME YOU GOVERNMENT SPOOK!"

* * *

"You didn't."

"I don't see anything wrong with it."

Sonic rolled his eyes. "You don't see anything wrong with putting a highly trained secret agent in the home of a wild child conspiracy theorist for a week?"

"I'll be checking in on them every day," Amy assured him, turning another page in her book.

"I have to agree with Sonic," Tails admitted. "The situation you've contrived is unlikely to remain as stable as you think it is."

Knuckles crossed his arms. "Not cool, Amy."

"Look, I don't trust Rouge," Amy explained.

"Nobody trusts Rouge," Sonic countered. "Doesn't mean we'd stick her with Sticks."

"Well, I happen to _trust_ Sticks."

Amy took in the disbelieving looks she was receiving.

"I mean, not about stuff like technology or government conspiracies," she rapidly assured them. "But she's a good judge of character."

"Really? _Sticks_ is a good judge of character?"

"Actually, she's got a point," Tails admitted. "Sticks can usually tell when somebody's hiding something, if it's not overridden by her general paranoia."

"The way I figure it, she'll weasel out whatever scheme Rouge has by the end of the week."

"I thought Sticks was a badger," Knuckles pointed out.

Amy blinked for a moment. "It's just an expression. Like somebody who 'outfoxes' a person."

"Oh, like when Sticks threw Tails out of her burrow!"

Tails rolled his eyes. "One time that happens. One time."

"So what you're saying is that Rouge is the weasel," Knuckles concluded.

"No," said Sonic.

"She kind of is," Amy pointed out.

"I thought she was a bat," Knuckles mused.

"She is a weasel in the body of a bat."

Knuckles' eyes went wide. "Oh. My. God. No _wonder_ she's so confused all the time!" He nodded to Amy. "You did the right thing. As soon as Sticks helps Rouge come out as being a weasel, we'll be there to support her."

Sonic facepalmed with a groan. "If anybody ever hears about this conversation, it's not going to go over well."

"Yeah, this took an unexpected turn," Tails admitted. "Although I agree that we should definitely support anybody figuring themselves out."

Amy turned another page in her book. "We're all a very supportive and understanding bunch. I'm so supportive, in fact, that I'll be checking in on Sticks and Rouge first thing tomorrow morning."

* * *

"...Yeech," Amy snorted, pinching her nose as she approached the burrow. "What is that smell?" She knocked on the round door rapidly.

When the door swung open, she had to blink. "Uh... Sticks? Why are you wearing a gas mask?"

"Bmcm hm brmm hrm mmook's mmofs."

"...I didn't catch that."

Sticks rolled her eyes, dragging Amy in before slamming the door shut.

"Amy! Thank god you're here, you can get me out of this!"

"Now, Rouge, I don't thiiiiiiii...."

Amy's jaw dropped as she beheld the bat.

"...Sticks," she managed, "I can understand why you tied her to a chair, but... why is she only wearing a towel?"

"I told you, I had to burn her clothes!" the badger explained, hanging up her gas mask. "Sure, they were made of spandex, but it was the safest way to get rid of any spy bugs on her."

"You took her clothes off?"

"What? No! I ain't _that_ kind of lunatic!" Sticks protested with an offended look. "I waited till she was in the tub, then I gathered them up."

"...That explains the towel," Amy admitted. "But still. Sticks, what have I said about burning people's clothes?"

"Already thought o' that." Sticks hopped over to her couch and flourished a swatch of cloth. "I'm making replacements. You think floral print is good for pants?"

Amy rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "You know, that actually seems like it would work well for her, somehow."

"Still tied up over here," Rouge reminded them.

"Haven't you been tied up before?"

"Not with rope like this. It's usually thinner and made of nylon. Much more fun."

Sticks snorted. "I'll untie ya, just as soon as I finish your new outfit. So... maybe an hour, tops."

"How thoughtful of you," Rouge deadpanned. "And after keeping me up all night."

"Hey, I needed to practice my birdcalls!"

"I don't know what birds could make half the sounds you did."

"It looks like you're getting on well enough," Amy decreed. "I'll be back tomorrow!"

"I might be dead tomorrow," Rouge replied flatly.

"Oh, that's ridiculous! Sticks isn't going to let you die."

The bat glanced over at the badger, who was slicing fabric apart with a machete. "That isn't very reassuring."

* * *

"Sooooo... how are things going at Sticks' place?" Sonic asked.

"Pretty good, actually. Sticks is helping Rouge pick out a new outfit." Amy smiled. "Which reminds me, you've been wearing that same brown scarf for a while now--"

"And I will continue to do so." Sonic leaned against the doorframe. "Seriously, everything's fine? Nobody's hurt?"

"Nope!" Amy beamed. "Everything's a-okay!"

* * *

Amy knocked on the door. "Oooooh Stiiiiiicks! I know you've been busy, so I decided to go out and get groceries for you!"

Sticks opened the door just wide enough to stick her head through. "Is it that high-falutin' 'organic' stuff? Cause that's not really organic. It's just grown in dirt the government subsidizes to working-class people insteada' big corps."

"...Well, it's locally grown. I thought you wouldn't like store-brand."

"Not fresh off the shelf, no, but the drugs that the corporate shills pump into their junk usually wears off a week or two after the expiration date." Sticks stepped aside, gesturing her in. "Local's good too, though."

"Is _that_ why you're okay with fast food?"

"That's ta build up a resistance to the drugs. The preservatives actually neutralize a lot of them."

Amy put the bags down on the stump that Sticks used as a table. "You are a source of incredible words, Sticks."

"You're telling me," Rouge grumbled from the couch. "She kept talking at me all night. I couldn't get a wink of sleep between her clattering craftworks and her paranoid ramblings."

Amy crossed her arms. "Aren't bats nocturnal?"

"Oh, yes, let's bring up the stereotype," Rouge scoffed. "Sure I can stay up late, but I've been up for sixty hours straight!"

Sticks huffed. "Lightweight. The whispers don't start till you hit twice that."

"You can't possibly expect me to stay up, what, five days straight!"

"I've stayed awake for a whole month before."

Rouge stared at the badger, her eyes wide. "...You're joking."

"Nope."

She sat up. "You took micronaps."

"...maybe," Sticks replied hesitantly. "I don't remember them though."

Amy tilted her head. "...Have you always had tattoos on your arms?"

"Huh?" Rouge glanced down. "Oh yeah. My gloves usually covered them. Of course, now I don't have any gloves because somebody," she glared at Sticks, "decided to burn them!"

"Hey, I was gonna make you a replacement pair but you used all the sports tape ta tie up those bongos of yours!"

"I was wondering about the sarashi," Amy mused, tapping her foot thoughtfully.

"Yeah, could you get me a couple more swatches?" Sticks gestured to the black scraps on the table. "The pants 'bout took the last of that, and I gotta feeling she'd whine if I used pelts to make her knickers."

"I'll see what I can do."

* * *

"Hey, Amy!" Tails rushed up. "How are things with Rouge and Sticks?"

"They're really getting along! Rouge says they stayed up all night talking!"

"Really? Huh. I would have thought Sticks would be a lot more paranoid around a stranger."

"Hahaha, yeah," Amy shrugged, "I guess sometimes people can surprise you."

* * *

"So," Rouge said in a tone of forced calm, "Sticks showed me her collection of skulls today."

"Oh, she's organizing that again?"

"Yes. There are a few open spaces she's saying she's saving for her enemies."

"Course, I don't need to kill all o' them," Sticks assured her. "I can just wait till they drop dead."

"Interesting," Amy mused.

* * *

"Rouge? Oh, Sticks is getting along great with her! She's even sharing her interests!"

"Really," Sonic said flatly.

"Yep!" Amy confirmed brightly.

* * *

"I haven't slept for three nights straight. I'm fairly certain this is some kind of psychological torture."

"Hey, if it were torture, would I be subjectin' myself to it?!"

"I don't know!" Rouge snapped. "You're crazy!"

Sticks rolled her eyes. "That's yer answer ta everything!"

Amy slowly backed out the door.

* * *

"So Sticks isn't upset that she has to put up with Rouge?"

"Maybe a little," Amy admitted. "But she's giving Rouge her undivided attention."

Tails nodded absently. "That's good to know."

* * *

The moment Amy opened the door to the burrow, she was face to tired face with Rouge.

"Alright," the bat said without preamble. "I get that you're angry. I should have been here. I'm sorry."

"It's not me you have to apologize to," Amy pointed out.

Rouge dragged a hand down her face. "Fine. Get the lunkhead over here, and--"

"Lunkhead?"

"Guuuh. I didn't mean it like that."

Amy crossed her arms. "And how did you mean it, hmm?"

"I just... I've spent the last five days without any sleep at all. I'm hearing whispers. I don't think I can... think straight." Rouge looked over her shoulder, watching the badger putter about a table in the back. "I don't know if I can stand another day with her."

"You wanted somewhere off the grid," Amy pointed out. "It doesn't get further off the grid than this."

"Amy, there's revenge, and then there's this. This goes beyond revenge. This is pure sadism!"

"Hey there roomie!" Sticks proclaimed with a deranged smirk as she turned around. "I maaaaade friendship braaaaacleeeeets!"

Amy and Rouge stared at the thorned ringlets hanging from her fingers.

The bat turned to the hedgehog, her expression desperate.

"Hmmmmmm..." Amy considered her, then Sticks, then her again. "....nope! I don't see anything wrong with this situation. Have fun!" She shut the door with a grin.

* * *

"HAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAA!"

Sonic glared up at the mustachioed bald man riding in a spherical hovercar. "Give it up, Eggman! Your cheap robots will never ruin our summer fun!"

"That's just it, Sonic. It's AUGUST now! Summer is officially over!"

"Actually, Summer doesn't end until midway through September," Tails pointed out, smacking away a mantis bot with a wrench.

"What? That doesn't make sense," Eggman protested. "Twelve months, four seasons, that's three months a season. And if winter starts in December..." He started counting off on his fingers, muttering under his breath.

Knuckles laughed as he smashed apart a few of the robots around him. "Man, this week's been great! I got extra ketchup on my burger, I'm smashing apart robots, an old friend I was worried about showed up out of nowhere, and I found a really awesome rock!"

Amy blinked, turning to him and absently smacking away a ballbot. "Wait, what was that last bit?"

"The rock? It's pretty awesome." Knuckles shrugged, absently smashing in the face of a beebot that flew too low. "I'm sure Rouge would like to see it. She always did like awesome rocks. And taking them from me. The girl knows her rocks."

"...I guess she does," Amy admitted.

"I had some fun times trying to keep my rocks away from her," he said wistfully. "Course, I couldn't let her know that. Had to be the big macho echidna. Man, it feels like it's been years since I've seen her."

"It's been five days."

"Whoa. Maybe I'm the time traveler now! I can't wait to tell Rouge all about my adventures in the future." Knuckles gasped, turning to Amy. "Wait, if this is the future, she might have gotten old! And died! And had a family! Not necessarily in that order!"

"...you really want to talk to her, huh?"

"Yeah. I mean I was worried for her. You know," the echidna admitted, "when I remembered her."

"You may have a Meridian," Sonic proclaimed, "but I'm about to give you some equal knocks!" He jumped into the air, curling into a tight ball and bashing Eggman's hovercar into the sky.

"CURSE YOU, SOOOOOOOONIIIIIIIIIC....!"

Tails shouldered his wrench. "Another job well done."

"Ha!" Sonic dusted off his hands. "And the banter was pretty great too! Right, Amy?"

"Huh?" Amy blinked, looking at him. "Oh, yeah, it was... nice. I gotta go do a thing."

The three others watched her run off.

"...She didn't hear a word of it, did she?"

Tails shrugged. "Sorry, Sonic."

"Meh, it's fine, it's whatever." The hedgehog huffed, waving it off. "I mean, she just missed the awesome lines I was spitting. That's all."

"Yeah, and it's not like you desire attention and praise from every last one of your friends every time you do something," Knuckles added. "You're humble like that."

"Nnnnyyyyyeeeesssss," Sonic ground out. "That's right. I'm... humble. Totally."

* * *

The pink hedgehog burst into Sticks' burrow. "Rouge, look, about what I--"

"Shhhhhh!" Sticks pressed a finger to her lips. "She's sleeping."

Amy blinked, looking at the couch. Sure enough, Rouge was breathing lightly under a rough blanket, eyes shut and a thick hat covering her large ears.

"Well that's... unexpected?" She gave Sticks a look. "I thought you were trying to keep her awake as long as you could."

The badger shrugged, walking over to the couch. "Sleep deprivation can do a number on ya. If you're not ready for it, yer mind'll get shaken up. You might let a few things slip."

Amy inhaled sharply. "Sticks--"

"Just needed to know how deep her conditioning goes," the badger explained, softly stroking Rouge's shoulder as she sat down.

"...what?"

"Government agents are terrible cause the government is terrible. It twists ya, slowly, makes you think that just cause some things need ta be run that everything needs ta be run. People ain't born evil. Unless they're pod people, but those guys ain't really born, anyway." Sticks patted Rouge gently. "If I wanted to deprogram her, I had to know how deep the programmin' went."

"...that makes a surprising amount of sense," Amy admitted.

"Yeah, I'm just chock full of surprises." She looked over at her. "Like bein' willing to do your dirty work for ya."

"I... don't know what you mean--"

"You shove a stranger into my burrow and tell me she's a government agent?" Sticks snorted. "I ain't stupid Ames. Paranoid, uneducated, and occasionally very mildly delusional, but not stupid. Just got one question for ya."

She narrowed her eyes.

"Was it worth it?"

Amy swallowed. "I... I guess not. I was just so angry that she... came out of the blue, like that. After just dropping out of our lives..." She sighed, leaning against a wall. "I guess I owe her an apology."

"Maybe."

For a moment, the two of them watched the slumbering bat.

"...tell you what, there is somethin' you can do."

"Really?"

"Ya know how I burned her clothes?" Sticks smirked. "One part might still be around. If ya scrub the melted spandex off."

* * *

"Oh, here they come!" Sonic waved. "Hey girls! Over here!"

"Hey, Sonic!" Rouge said with a smirk. "I hear I missed a pretty awesome battle."

"Well, it was alright," Sonic replied, brushing his fist off his chest idly. "I mean, not like some of my better battles, but you know, slow week."

"Rouge!" Knuckles cried, wrapping the bat up in a tight hug. "It's great to see you! It feels like it's been a week!"

Rouge smirked. "It has been a week, big guy."

"Really? Awesome!" The echidna put her down. "And hey, listen. If anybody gives you guff about not being born a weasel, let me know so I can knock their lights out."

"...Knuckles, I'm a bat."

"Keeping it on the down-low, I get it. Your secret's safe with me."

Rouge gave Knuckles an odd look. "...thanks...?"

Amy's smile was a touch too broad. "Ha ha, well, that is certainly a statement!" At the bat's suspicious glance, she cleared her throat and adjusted her stance. "Rouge... about sticking you with Sticks--"

"Oh, that?" Rouge smiled. "What's there to complain about? I (eventually) got the best sleep I've ever had, plus this great new outfit that incorporates my old chest piece, and Sticks gave me a bunch of friendship bracelets!"

"Those spikey things?!"

"No, different bracelets." Rouge rose her arm, showing off an array of bangles.

"They double as lockpicks," Sticks whispered, beaming. "Great tools for rebels."

"Uh... wow." Amy blinked. "You two seem to have hit it off."

"Oh I don't trust her further than I can throw her," Sticks assured her. "But with those wings... that could be a bit further than I can throw most people."

Rouge chortled. "Oh, Sticks, you're a character! Let's never have another sleepover."

"Agreed."

"...I'm sorry," Amy murmured.

Rouge blinked. "Did I hear that right?"

"Yes. I'm sorry. I treated you with distrust and contempt that you didn't really deserve."

Rouge considered her for a moment. "...Oh, come here, you!" She pulled Amy into a tight embrace.

"GRK!"

Sticks shook her head. "You brought this on yourself, Ames. Rouge, if you hold her longer than ten seconds I'm gonna stab ya."

Rouge waited for a second.

Then a second more.

Then she finally released Amy, who gasped for breath.

"Now you know how I feel," Sonic deadpanned.

"How did you do that?" Amy wheezed, holding her chest.

"Ludicrously strong shoulder muscles." Rouge stretched her wings to their full extent. "Gotta work these babies out from time to time!" 


End file.
